Noah Baumbach is known for caustic comedy-dramas that delight in exploring the privileged and misanthropic. That’s not a putdown; he’s been quite successful doing that, with great films like “The Squid and the Whale” and “Greenberg” serving as studies of miserable people. So it’s unexpected that his latest, “Frances Ha,” sands away some of those rough edges. It’s positively ebullient in comparison.

It might have helped that Baumbach’s “Greenberg” star, Greta Gerwig, co-wrote and stars in “Frances Ha,” an affectionate portrayal of adrift young womanhood and platonic friendship that finds our ever-optimistic titular protagonist suddenly adrift after her best friend and roommate, Sophie (Mickey Sumner), announces she’s moving out. “We’re like the same person,” Frances has often said of Sophie, but this latest jolt shakes Frances out of her comfortable holding pattern and sends her on a year-long odyssey to pursue her dreams as a dancer and figure out who she is, whether she wants to or not.

If this is reminiscent of HBO’s TV show “Girls,” the comparisons are cemented when Adam Driver, a co-star of that show, turns up in “Frances Ha.” But while it does cover similar ground, tonally it’s a bit sunnier, owing to its protagonist’s sunnier disposition. It does share a certain frankness in its dialogue, and it shares in its protagonists a certain awkward aimlessness.

“Frances Ha” is told in a loose, episodic structure, with Frances moving from incident to incident (usually conversation to conversation). Filmed in black and white, sometimes abruptly edited and using a number of music cues from iconic French composer Georges Delerue, Baumbach strongly evokes the French New Wave in its presentation, and it takes a little while to get into the film’s rhythm.

But Baumbach’s camera seems in love with Frances, and in love with her irrepressibility (I suppose it bears mentioning that Baumbach and Gerwig, apart from being professional partners, are romantically involved), and the enthusiasm becomes infectious after a while. Gerwig is such a winning comedic figure and becomes so sympathetic that, even when the only one in Frances’s way is herself, you can’t help but root for her.

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Noah Baumbach is known for caustic comedy-dramas that delight in exploring the privileged and misanthropic. That’s not a putdown; he’s been quite successful doing that, with great films like “The Squid and the Whale” and “Greenberg” serving as studies of miserable people. So it’s unexpected that his latest, “Frances Ha,” sands away some of those rough edges. It’s positively ebullient in comparison.

It might have helped that Baumbach’s “Greenberg” star, Greta Gerwig, co-wrote and stars in “Frances Ha,” an affectionate portrayal of adrift young womanhood and platonic friendship that finds our ever-optimistic titular protagonist suddenly adrift after her best friend and roommate, Sophie (Mickey Sumner), announces she’s moving out. “We’re like the same person,” Frances has often said of Sophie, but this latest jolt shakes Frances out of her comfortable holding pattern and sends her on a year-long odyssey to pursue her dreams as a dancer and figure out who she is, whether she wants to or not.

If this is reminiscent of HBO’s TV show “Girls,” the comparisons are cemented when Adam Driver, a co-star of that show, turns up in “Frances Ha.” But while it does cover similar ground, tonally it’s a bit sunnier, owing to its protagonist’s sunnier disposition. It does share a certain frankness in its dialogue, and it shares in its protagonists a certain awkward aimlessness.

“Frances Ha” is told in a loose, episodic structure, with Frances moving from incident to incident (usually conversation to conversation). Filmed in black and white, sometimes abruptly edited and using a number of music cues from iconic French composer Georges Delerue, Baumbach strongly evokes the French New Wave in its presentation, and it takes a little while to get into the film’s rhythm.

But Baumbach’s camera seems in love with Frances, and in love with her irrepressibility (I suppose it bears mentioning that Baumbach and Gerwig, apart from being professional partners, are romantically involved), and the enthusiasm becomes infectious after a while. Gerwig is such a winning comedic figure and becomes so sympathetic that, even when the only one in Frances’s way is herself, you can’t help but root for her.